Apocalypse
by Wendymypooh
Summary: A virulent virus has wiped out millions. No families are exempt from losing members, including the Solo-Skywalker Clan. Goshyn Maul/Desmarin were created by my friend Andre/Novaguyver Alexxa Skywalker was created by my friend Sarah/DivineDivinity.-Bits and pieces of scenes between Alexxa and her younger half-brother Ben were co-written between me Sarah and me. Some scene
1. Chapter 1

****A Deep and Residing Sadness****

A deep and residing sadness had settled over the galaxy in reaction to the tremendous death and despair that was violently forced upon young and old alike, on Bothan and Human, upon every specie known to inhabitant all the worlds in the galaxy.

War was not the cause of this latest, great tragedy that was ravaging the galaxy, but a nasty, virulent virus which struck its victims with such violent suddenness, that there was no warning, and no way to prepare for it.

Even Force sensitive beings were not spared, and the Jedi Order itself lost its two greatest members, Masters Luke and Mara Skywalker, among many others.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of all was the death of the beloved Alderaan princess, Leia Organa-Solo. She was one of the first casualties of the lethal virus. Not willing to be parted from his beloved wife for even one iota of a second, the mighty Han Solo also succumbed to the disease so that he could remain with his princess forever.

Heading up the scientific/medical approach to finding a cure for the virus, or at least some sort of vaccination is Mon Calamari Jedi Master Cighal and her team of Jedis, medical personnel, and the greatest scientists from other planets.


	2. Chapter 2

****Maintaining Contact****

Twelve-year-old Tapion Solo-Maul refused to let go of his siblings' hands, making it difficult for medical personnel to regularly check the triplets vitals. As the eldest son born to Goshyn Maul and Jaina Solo-Maul he was just a bit stronger in the Force, and it had aided him in fighting the vicious virus that struck all the members of his close knit family and nearly everyone else on Coruscant.

Tapion was terrified of something happening to one or both of his siblings. Casio was burning up with fever and lay in an ice bath placed there by the Jedi Master Cighal and her medical personnel. He had overheard one of the med-techs discussing the very real possibility of his brother suffering some severe and permanent brain damage if they weren't successful in lowering his temperature soon.

On the other side of him, his sister Alara was ice cold. Thermo blankets had been placed upon her in an effort to bring her dangerously lowered temperature back up to a normal range. There was talk too, of her experiencing some lifelong effects from the virus if  
she survived.

IF she survived. He couldn't bare the thought of losing one or both of his siblings, and so he remained in constant contact with them at all times, using some of his slowly returning strength to keep up a mental contact with them as well.

*Fight Casio. Fight Alara..Please don't give up. I can't lose either of you.*


	3. Chapter 3

****Raging Grief****

Grief raged within Jaina Solo-Maul. Her beloved parents were dead, and so were her Aunt Mara and Uncle Luke. Like herself, her husband and triplets, her brothers and their families, were all gathered together in the same area of the recently built medical center created adjacent to the newly renovated Jedi Temple compound on Coruscant. Although primarily used for the medical care of Jedis, the center was open to anyone who was in need of medical assistance.

She was the first of her immediate family of five to come out of the coma that the virulent virus had forced her into. Her beloved Goshyn was still out if it, but she had been assured by Master Cighal that he was holding his own finally, and just needed sleep to aide him in his healing.

Of their triplets, it didn't surprise Jaina that Tapion was the first of her and Goshyn's children to be headed down the path towards recovery. As their firstborn, he had always been a little bit stronger, and a little bit faster, than Casio and Alara, ever since they were infants.

Casio and Alara were alive, but still gravely ill. She knew they were fighting hard to stay alive. Jaina had had a future vision, a few short days before the virus struck the galaxy, that showed all three of her children as adults. Her belief in the vision was the only thing keeping her from being totally consumed by the turbulent emotions arcing through her.

Her vision had shown Goshyn alive as well, but it had been murky as to whether any of her other family members would survive the virus. That was why she felt so desperate to see her brothers. She had to see Jacen and Anakin with her own eyes. She needed to touch them both and let them know that she was there, as well as check on the status of their wives and children, and on her younger cousins, Alexxa and Ben.

She removed the patches monitoring her heart rate, brain waves pattern, and from her chest and head, but knew that she could not remove the IV taped to her arm.

Jaina concentrated hard on the plastic tube of clear liquid hanging on a hook at the head of her bed and was relieved when it flew into her free hand.

She slid her legs over the side of the bed and gingerly placed her weight onto her feet, nearly collapsing as her weak legs buckled beneath her. She leaned heavily on the bed, drawing on the Force to strengthen her weak limbs.

"I can do this." she murmured aloud, and continuing to use the Force to aide her, she began to slowly walk away from her bed.


	4. Chapter 4

****Small Steps****

*Small steps* Jaina thought to herself as she cleared the short distance between her bed and Goshyn's. She touched her free hand to her husband's hot cheek,noticing how his flushed face seemed to make the bold red and black markings on it, even more dominant.

Her husband's ritualistic facial tattoos were one of many things that she loved about him. *Sleep well, my beloved. Let your slumber be healing so that you can come back to me and our children soon.*

She gave him a soft kiss on his lips before she moved around his bed to the one in which a fevered Casio lay. His dark brown, wavy hair hung limp around his boyish face. The noises the monitors made were a welcomed sound, since it meant that her boy was still alive.

*Grow strong, my son..Come back to us.*

A kiss to his cheek and she was on the move again.

Tapion's dark eyes opened the moment she appeared between his bed and Casio's.

"Mom," he croaked out between cracked lips.

Fear and pain radiated off her eldest child and it struck her mother's heart. "Ssh..."Jaina told him softly, leaning over and placing her forehead against stayed that way for several moments, as Tapion let loose some of the fear he was feeling at the  
possibility that his siblings would die.

"All will be as it should soon." she told him when she straightened up. "Do not fret."

"But.."

Jaina pressed her finger to his lips. "No buts, rest my son."

They locked eyes and held, and after a moment Tapion nodded and obligingly closed his eyes, but he did not loosen his grip on his siblings' hands.

Jaina kissed him on the cheek, and then waited for a few moments, before moving on to Alara's bed. She was becoming increasingly weaker by the minute, but she was determined to continue on her quest to see how all her family members were faring, before she went back to her bed. Alara's lips were blue-tinged and her face so ashen, Jaina felt panic flood her. She remembered her vision of the future, and it gave her comfort.

"My daughter, my treasure...grow strong and come back to us." She kissed Alara on the cheek and then moved past the divider and into the section that she knew Jacen and his family was in.


	5. Chapter 5

****On Fire****

Jacen was burning alive. He felt the heat rise in his body, felt his hair plastered to his forehead, as beads of perspiration ran down the sides of his face. He tried to move, but his limbs remained incredibly heavy, as if they were made of stone. He tried to open his eyes, but found they were glued shut. He tried to speak, but his throat was closed off. A wave of panic washed over him and he felt a silent scream crawl up his throat.

His heart pounded, but his chest felt stiff and immobile, and wouldn't grant him any more air than what he was already getting. There was an eerie rhythmical beeping sound, coming from far away and he tried to clench his hands into fists. Not a muscle moved. His head swam,thoughts blurred, and images forced themselves to be acknowledged.

He fought against the myriad of memories assaulting his disoriented mind. The heat around him was steadily rising, burning him from the inside. What happened? How  
did he get here? Where was he? Why couldn't he move?His family? His friends? Something was terribly wrong? Something felt so distinctly wrong that for a second he wondered if he truly wanted to wake from the hellish nightmare he was in.


	6. Chapter 6

****Numb****

Her fingers gently caressed his hand, smoothing over the fevered flesh in an almost reverent manner. Almost as if, through her touch, she was praying...nay, begging for him to come through this.

Her green eyes lifted, from gazing at their clasped hands, toward Jacen's face. Worry. Pain. A million and one emotions were dancing in the depths of her gaze...but the emotions were tempered, by the numb sense of self she'd pulled up as a shield in the last few days since she'd forced herself out of bed.

Her gaze slowly moved over his facial features. How many times had she looked into his face to find him smiling at her? Scowling? What she wouldn't give to see his eyes open at that moment. To feel her heart do that little flip-flop when he gave her one of his slightly  
cocky grins that so much resembled those given by his scoundrel of a father.

Kyrra's brows drew together as a stab of pain shot through her. Han. She'd never have suspected that that roguish vibrant man would be brought low by something like a 'd always assumed the bolt from a blaster would snub out the renowned pilot and hero.

Thinking about her father-in-law, made her thoughts turn naturally onto her mother-in-law, Leia...then onto Luke...and finally Mara.

Grief roiled through her.

A grief so encompassing that she felt as if she was being swallowed down a large black hole. She struggled against that encroaching darkness, until she was able to regain control of her turbulent emotions.

She couldn't lose it now. She had to be strong, she reminded herself silently, continuing to slowly, tenderly caress her husband's hand.

But she'd lost so much. They all had.

She took a deep breath. Wishing she could wake Jacen...but afraid to wake him at the same time. Afraid to see how he would react when he found out...

Because Jacen not only had lost his parents, his aunt and uncle...

They'd lost a child. The virus had claimed their youngest son. So young, not even getting to see his first birthday. No first first word...

Kycen

Kyrra swallowed, pain etching across her face for a heartbeat, before she slammed her shields back more firmly into place.

She'd let herself mourn. Let herself feel the pain later.

But not now.

Now she had to be strong. For their remaining children. For Jacen.

Leaning forward, she gently lifted Jacen's hand up, brushing her lips against his knuckles...letting the side of her face nuzzle against his hand. It was as close to a hug as she could give him at the moment...or he could give her.

"Please, come back to me Jacen." she whispered, her voice cracking under the weight of the emotions battering at her shield. "I need you. Your children need you. Your siblings need you. So open your eyes and come back to us."


	7. Chapter 7

**__**Interrupting a Private Moment**__**

Jaina's movements were slow as she moved past the barrier curtain, separating her immediate family's area from that of Jacen and his. She was grateful that they had all been placed close together. Even though she had been too weak to get out of bed to see them, she had felt it when both her parents' essences had dimmed  
forever.

In her mind's eye she knew they had lain close together, with their hands intertwined. Although their combined deaths left a hole in her heart as big as the galaxy, Jaina could admit that she was glad that they had gone together. It was as it should be.

The same had been true with her Aunt Mara and Uncle Luke. Tears threatened to fill her eyes and overflow onto her cheeks. How in the Force were they all suppose to get along without her beloved aunt and uncle? How would the Jedi Order continue without the man who had brought them all together, and led them with such insight, wisdom, understanding, and compassion? Mara had given the order more focus, insisted on stronger training sessions, encouraged them all to strive to be the best that they could be with whatever Force abilities they held. Together the two Masters had been formidable leaders. Who would lead them now?

Surprise, and then joy, rushed through Jaina as she spotted the slender form of her sister-in-law Kyrra sitting beside her twin's bed. She hadn't known the conditions of any of her other family members. She was only aware of their essences still present in the Force.

Jaina hesitated in moving forward, sensing the upheaval that Kyrra's emotions were in, not wanting to interrupt such a private moment between her sister-in-law and brother.

She instead stood and stared at her twin's still form on the hospital were tubes and wires attached to him, much in the way they were to Goshyn and her children. Just like the ones she had stripped from her body when she got out of bed. Without touching her twin, she knew that Jacen was burning up. His face was flushed and she got an overall sense of encompassing heat surrounding him.

Jaina was still observing her brother, when she heard her name spoken. "Madam Solo-Maul, you shouldn't be out of bed yet."

She turned to see a medical droid standing behind her. "I needed to see for myself how the rest of my family is doing."

"Now that you have, let me help you back to your bed."

Jaina gave the medical droid a steely glare. " Did you not understand what I just told you? I'm going to see how my family is doing and I advise you not to try and stop me."

With a disgruntled beep, the medical droid rolled away and Jaina turned her attention back onto Jacen and Kyrra. Her sister-in-law had turned away from her brother's bed and stood silently watching her.

"I'm sorry, Kyrra...I didn't mean to interrupt your time alone with Jacen...I just needed...I'll come back." Jaina said and turned to leave.


	8. Chapter 8

**__**No...stay**__**

Kyrra gave a slight start at the sound of the droid addressing someone behind her. So deep in her own thoughts she'd not heard, nor sensed Jaina, near their area.

Her green eyes darted away from the still form of her husband to focus upon the welcome visage of her sister-in-law. Thank the Force...Jaina was up on her feet! She thought with an exhalation of relief. Just seeing Jacen's twin standing there on the mend... it gave her hope that Jacen would soon pull through this illness too.

"No Jaina...please stay." Kyrra interjected quickly, partially rising from her chair and extending a hand toward her sister-in-law, inviting Jaina to join her at Jacen's bedside.

"I'm so glad to see you." She added, sincerity ringing in her voice. "I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you on your feet."

She wanted to ask Jaina how the other members of her family were faring? But she was hesitant to do so, worried that if it was bad news, it would shatter the moment with loss and fear.


	9. Chapter 9

**__**Come Back to Us.**__** ****

Jaina stood still in indecision for a moment, not wanting to intrude upon Kyrra's time with Jacen, but feeling an overwhelming sense of longing to be close to her twin...drawing her forward...

She blinked back tears as she took in the pleading look in her sister-in-law's green eyes and got a sense of the other woman's carefully controlled turbulent emotions that shimmered just below the surface of her chest.

It was a sensation she knew all too well...

Jaina stepped toward the bed, and gratefully clasped Kyrra's hand with her own, feeling the comfort the touch gave her, and knew Kyrra felt it too.

"I'm glad to see you on your feet as well." Jaina swallowed hard past the lump of emotion in her throat.."It's so hard to believe that Mom and Dad are gone...and  
Uncle Luke and Aunt Mara too."

She took a deep breath before continuing, seeing the unspoken questions in Kyrra's eyes. "Goshyn and our triplets...are all still alive. Tapion, seems to be on the road to recovery, but Alara and Casio, and Goshyn too, are all engaged in fierce battles to stay alive..."

Her gaze shifted off of Kyrra's face and onto Jacen and she had to bite back the sob that threatened to escape from within her. His brown hair, so like her own, was slick with perspiration, and his face flushed with a ravaging fever.

"Come back to us Jacen...I..we need you here.." Jaina whispered softly to her twin, as she leaned over and gently kissed his burning forehead.


	10. Chapter 10

**__**Awakening**__**

Goshyn lay in a still, feverish state upon his bed in the medical center. His closed eyes moving rapidly under his eyelids. His fever spiked higher, and his body began to convulse. The spasmodic movements jarred the wires and tubes attached to him, and alarms began to shriek all around him.

"It's Goshyn!" Cilghal exclaimed as she hurried down the corridor, almost colliding with one of her assistants, as she hastily entered the large room where all five Mauls were receiving medical care. Two more medics were visible as the door slid open, revealing their frantic movements as they tried to stabilize the Jedi's thrashing body.

"Hold him down!" Cilghal's ordered two of the younger medics. "He mustn't be allowed to hurt himself." She placed her hand on his forehead and poured healing energy into Goshyn's body, hoping to calm it down. "His fever is rising." she murmured and cast a wary look around at her assistants.

The last stage then. All patients, no matter the race, had gone through what the medics called the Fire Stage by now. They burned up, their bodies cramped, most of the time breaking bones in the process, their hearts raced way too fast, their presences' in the Force flared up one last time and then...it was an internal battle. In the end it came down to the individual, their inner strength. From then on the medics were helpless. Everything depended on the patient's will to live, and on the strength he or she had left. Sometimes the bodies were just too drained to keep fighting.

The Jedi Master sighed deeply, her big eyes focused thoughtfully on Goshyn's still form. Gently wiping the sweat off his forehead, she looked up to see Jaina Solo swaying a few steps from her husband's reaching out to steady the other woman she made calming noises in the back of her throat at the panicked expression on the younger  
Jedi's face.

With gentle determination the Master Healer pushed Jaina into a seat next to the bed of her husband. "I do not need to remind you that you should remain in your own bed, Jaina Solo-Maul." her voice held no reproach though, only a wary sadness. Her fingers squeezed Jaina's shoulder for a moment, letting some energy of her own flow into  
her. "Try not to overdo it."


	11. Chapter 11

**__**Don't Leave Me**__**

No sooner had Jaina finished her prayerful request of Jacen, than she heard alarm bells begin to ring and a flurry of activity rush toward her immediate family's section in the med bay, and she felt mind numbing panic flood over her.

"I'm sorry, I've got to go."

She pulled her hand away from Kyrra and struggled to push her weakened  
body back toward where here husband and children lay in their hospital beds.

A quick glance at her three children lying in the same positions they were in earlier, sent her mother's heart flooding momentarily with relief. Then realization sank in that all the commotion with the clanging beeps and whistles, was caused by her beloved husband's deteriorating health.

"Goshyn," She murmured, biting her bottom lip to keep from crying out her fear, as she watched in horrified helplessness as her husband's body jerked spasmodically on the medical table. She listened intently to the medical terminology being shouted back and forth as Master Cighal and her team worked frantically to stop Goshyn's seizures and lower his temperature to a normal state.

*Don't leave me...* she shouted at him through the Force, her breath coming in gasps, as she continued to watch the chaotic scene before her.


	12. Chapter 12

**__**Fight, We All Need You Both To Survive.**__**

*Goshyn...come back to me..*

It was a running mantra in Jaina's head as she watched Master Cighal and her assistants work on her husband. She couldn't lose him. She'd already gone through the possibility once before and she'd crossed over to the Darkside...

She had done horrible things back then, but Goshyn and Jacen had found her. They had tracked her down, brought her back over to the lightside of the Force, stood by her as she faced down the Jedi Council and accepted the punishment they handed down to her. She'd been grounded, forced into a probationary period for several months, and they'd stuck by her.

Well, Jacen had been estranged from her for awhile, but that was understandable after all she'd put him and their family members through. They were two halves of the same whole, and until they'd mended their fences, it had been difficult...But they had breached the walls both had erected around themselves and repaired the damage  
that was done..

Now she was facing the possibility not only that she could lose Goshyn, her soulmate, husband, and lover, but her beloved twin as well. She felt a thread of darkness run through her, and she stubbornly cast it hurriedly aside.

Goshyn and Jacen would NOT die. They COULDN'T. She WOULDN'T let them.

Jaina called the Force to her, resisting the pain that swept over her body as she did so, and focused her attention on the bonds that connected her to both her husband, and her twin.

*Fight.* She pleaded with them. *I need you. We all need you both to survive.*


	13. Chapter 13

**__**A Turn For The Better...**__**

Jedi Master Cighal worked along with a half dozen med-techs and Jedi healers in training to stabilize Goshyn Maul. The techniques that she and the other healers had been implementing into use on their varied patients, as well as medication protocol, bacta tank immersion, worked differently for each patient they had.

Some worked more aggressively on some of the patients' anatomies, others seemed to take forever to kick in and take hold, as they learned more about the virus that had attacked the galaxy.

Goshyn was half-Zabrak. Their anatomy, while similar to Humans, was different at the same time. He was one of the few Zabraks that remained living in the galaxy and therefore they didn't have much to go on than what they learned from him. If they were successful with him, then there was hope for his and Jaina's sons and daughter who were also still fighting to survive the disease as well.

They'd also been taking notes of the different stages that their patients went through during their fight against the virus.

Finally, when all the bleeps and other sounds distinguished to their normal statue, and she was certain that Goshyn had taken a turn for the better in his fight to become well, Cighal turned away from Goshyn and faced Jaina Solo Maul.


	14. Chapter 14

**__**Surrounded by Darkness**__**

Jacen was surrounded by darkness. Nothing moved, there was no sound, and when he peered down at his body, he couldn't make it out. He forced himself to remain calm, and reached out instinctively for Kyrra, but the Force was elusive and avoided his touch. He could still sense it there...somewhere beyond his reach.

*Where am I? What's going on?*

He tried to focus, but his head throbbed, and ached with an intensity that made it difficult. He pushed through the pain and felt something in the Force shift, bringing the darkness surrounding him alive.

Ripples ran through the darkness, reminding him of the waves of an ocean, and he sensed that although he was trapped within the darkness, that he was not in its center. With every breath he took, the ripples inundated, as if alive, and he frowned as he caught the hint of something else in the darkness with him.

He stilled, drawing in a breath, at the same time focusing his concentration, and tried to once more reach out and connect with the Force, and felt a little glimmer, at the same time he caught sight of a tiny spark of light in the encompassing darkness surrounding him.

Jacen blinked, focusing his attention on the little star light, watching it slowly widen and expand, shifting the darkness, as he once again tried to move. Instantly he felt himself pushed backwards, away from the glittering point of light, and dug his heels into the invisible floor beneath him.

Two things happened at once. Jacen, in a brilliant moment of clarity, realized that it was vital that he get closer to the light, and he felt the familiar presence of another wash over him. This other sense centered around the glittering light and beckoned to Jacen, as if it was calling for his help

With renewed determination Jacen started forward again, fighting against the darkness as if it was another sentient being. Dizziness washed over him and with a cracking sound the Force was back. He could distantly sense fatigue and pain...and a stubborn, steady presence in all the chaos. *Goshyn!* Jacen mentally called out into the darkness surrounding him.


	15. Chapter 15

**__**Voices in the Murky Darkness**__**

Goshyn's subconscious stirred at the sound of a voice calling out his name. It was a familiar voice, he knew, but the mugginess of his brain was making it hard for him to place a name to the voice.

*Goshyn, I'm not sure what's happening but you have to break through this. Take my energy. I can't touch the Force, so I won't be a lot of help, but I can back you up.*

He struggled to think past the mugginess, oddly aware that his body was fever-hot and shaking uncontrollably, yet for some reason he wasn't feeling the sensations of any of that pouring over him.

Another voice was calling to him through the Force, and this one, without a doubt he recognized. Jaina. His beloved wife. She seemed so far away...her voice was so teeny...he could barely hear it, but somehow he did and he fought to draw closer to it...and only when he had made the conscious effort to do so...than he recognized the other voice calling to him, trying to guide him out of the dark mugginess he currently existed in. Jacen...


	16. Chapter 16

**__**Remaining at Jacen's Side**__**

"You should be resting." Master Cilghal told Kyrra as she entered the area where Jacen and his and Kyrra's three surviving children were in the med-center. Quite some time had passed since Goshyn Maul's medical crisis, and though the Mon Calamari Jedi Master was exhausted, she was making her rounds from patient to patient before she retired to her quarters to get some much needed sleep. "I would insist that you return to your bed, but I fear my words will fall on deaf ears."

Kyrra managed a faint smile at Cilghal's words, but didn't show any sign that she might turn and retreat to her own bed. Not when her husband needed her.

"Well, we -are- a rather stubborn lot." She replied, her voice sounding just as worn down as her body felt.

Kyrra shifted away from Jacen's bed in order to give Cilghal room to maneuver, and watched the Jedi Master with expectant eyes. Would Cilghal find some change in Jacen's condition? Would there be some small clue she'd missed to show that Jacen might be starting to pull out of this coma?

Cilghal stepped up to Jacen's bed and felt another sagging feeling inside of her. Both Goshyn and Jacen had been unconscious for far too long. She was worried that the longer they remained in a comatose state, that their chances of ever waking up...were dwindling away.

She closed her mouth and sighed. She was no droid to count on statistics. She was a Master Jedi and the majority of her remaining patients were all Jedi. It was up to them if they lived or died.

"You are not well. You need more rest." she reiterated as she turned once again to face the younger woman.

Cilghal had dealt with the Solos often enough to know what they thought about resting when one of their family was injured. The Master Jedi sighed again.

"I can rest just as easily sitting by Jacen's side, as I could laying in that bed staring up at the ceiling...thinking about..." Kyrra replied, biting her bottom lip to keep from blurting out the names that were on the tip of her tongue. Names that were too painful to acknowledge right now. Loss too fresh, too raw, too hard to endure alone. The weakness in her voice softening words that might have otherwise sounded clipped and angry. Where had the anger came from? From the fact that she'd heard the dejected tone in Cilghal's voice.

It had sounded to Kyrra almost as if Cilghal was on the verge of giving up hope.

She sighed and tried to push the anger aside. "I'll not over exert myself, I promise. But, this is where I need to be."

She looked away from Cilghal and back toward Jacen. Moving to sit back down in the chair beside his bed.

Reaching out, she took one of his hands into both of hers, and let her shoulders slump.

Her anger was still simmering beneath the surface, like hot waves...or a kettle that would soon boil over should more heat be applied.

She sat there, silent, unaware if Cilghal had stayed or had departed. She leaned forward, lifting Jacen's hand to press it gently against the side of her face. Wishing with all her heart that he'd open his eyes, that he'd come back to her.

"Jacen." She said, her voice heavy with emotion. "Come back to me...I'm lost without you."

She felt as if she'd lost her balance along with everything else. As if, with the gentlest of pushes, she could so easily slip and fall. Let her anger overtake her.

Let her pain devour her.


	17. Chapter 17

**__**Help Was At Hand At Last...**__**

He felt as if he was treading water in the middle of quicksand, and not making any ground. His limbs were weighted down and the sun was blistering hot upon him, every single inch of him that wasn't covered in the thick, cool quicksand, felt as if it was on fire. His throat was parched, his face dry and sand whipped, his eyes stung from perspiration, and his lips were cracked and bleeding.

Goshyn struggled to free himself from his predicament, but only seemed to weigh his body down even more. Faintly he heard a voice calling out to him, seeking him out, and he wasn't certain who it was. It was familiar he knew that, but he wasn't getting an impression of who it was and there was something wrong with that too.

He knew he should be able to do something to aide himself further, but his mind was filled with too much pain. The intensity of sun shining down upon him made it difficult for him to think or see too well, because all he was seeing was a bright light white now...

Before everything had been so dark...so calm and silent and oppressive...those feelings were no longer part of his reality or his subconscious, only the light was...and now, he could see the figure coming to him now and his heart leaped...Jacen Solo.

Help was at hand at last...even though he wasn't certain if Jacen could free him from his prison.


	18. Chapter 18

**__**We Need You***__**

*Fight.* Jaina pleaded with her husband and twin. *I need you both. We all  
need you both to survive.*

Her outer self was calm and stoic, while her inner self was trembling with fatigue, the affects of still recovering from the virulent virus herself, and her terror that death was going to claim another one of her loved ones. She struggled to keep her doubts and anguish at losing her beloved parents, aunt and uncle, from tainting the Force around  
her, wanting instead to shower her husband and brother with love, reassurance, and support, hoping that by keeping her connections to both of them open and filled with confidant thoughts about their recoveries,that they would believe it themselves.

She couldn't seem to take her eyes off the form of her unconscious husband as Master Cighal and the med-techs worked to stabilize Goshyn. She had a very faint sense of his presence in the Force, as if he was far away or trapped in a dark place, and searching, searching to find his way.

*You can do it Goshyn. Keep looking, keep searching...go into the light.* she sent to him through the Force, realizing that the image of a slowly growing light in the middle of the darkness that she could sense surrounding her husband was somehow connected to Jacen.

She shifted her thoughts to her brother, casting a look over her shoulder at the stoic form of Kyrra standing like a silent sentry beside Jacen's bedside, and felt a twinge of consciousness from Jacen. She got a glimpse of inky darkness engulfing her twin before he stepped into a blinding light...

She got an image of him calling out...but could not make out what the name was...she realized though that the images she'd received were from both Goshyn and Jacen...that her brother was calling out to Goshyn...and his voice was what was leading her husband toward the light in which Jacen was enclosed in, and she felt hope fill her that together her brother and husband would come back to everyone who loved them.


	19. Chapter 19

**__**A Better Diagnosis Than What She Expected**__**

Jaina braced herself. Even though she sensed in the Force a change in her husband's condition, and could still feel him...wandering about...his presence in her head was diminished considerably from the way it usually was.

She felt Tapion brush her mind, his worry and anguish leaking onto her and she sent back reassurance. Even though her eldest son was trying so hard to be strong and trust in the Force, grief and fear emanated from him in thick waves..

"It appears that Goshyn has changed over into the next status of the virus." Cighal told her. "His vitals aren't entirely back to normal, but they are very close to being within their regular limits. The fever has broken and while still high, seems to be lowering at a slow but steady pace. He's still unconscious and the longer he is, poses a problem, but I imagine that he will start coming around within the next day or so in keeping with the way other Jedis have come out of their fever comas."

Jaina felt relief flood through her. "And my children?"

"Tapion is coming along well. Until Casio and Alara take the next turn in the symptoms they are currently experiencing...their outcome is still cloudy. They are young though, and were in very good health prior to succumbing to this virus, and that seems to have added something extra into their chances for a full recovery.

Now, I insist that you go back to bed. You are still weak yourself and you will do no one in your family any good if you should succumb to the illness again."

Jaina smiled softly. "I'm going...Master Cilghal, thank you so much for everything."

"I am only doing what the Force guides me to do."


	20. Chapter 20

**__**He Will**__**

Instead of going directly back to bed as Master Cighal had instructed, Jaina returned to her twin's side, in time to hear her sister-in-law's words.

She could feel the turbulent emotions building within Kyrra, and knew that her sister-in-law was close to walking a path she'd long given up years ago.

Jaina stepped closer, reached out, and placed a supporting hand on a slender shoulder. "Jacen is strong, he is loved, and he will return to all of us who love him."

Kyrra drew in a long, shaky breath and reached up, placing her hand atop Jaina's, grateful for that slight weight she'd felt land upon her shoulder.

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to center herself again, trying to draw upon the sense of strength and assurance that Jaina represented. But...it was like trying to find one small spot in a huge turbulent ocean where the wind and waves weren't lashing at you with all their ferociousness.

She slowly exhaled...but still felt those raw emotions lashing at her, as if they were trying to wrap about her ankles and pull her over the edge whether she wanted to go or not.

"Jaina," she said softly as she opened her eyes and looked at the prone form of her husband lying so pale in his hospital bed. "Help me keep hope alive...I fear if I lose it completely..."

Shifting, she turned slightly to look back at her sister in law, her eyes full of raw emotion. "We've already lost so much, if we lose him too...," her voice cracked slightly.

"I feel like I'd lose myself too."


	21. Chapter 21

**__**Be Strong**__**

Jaina shifted her hand so that she could curl her fingers around Kyrra's. Even though they hadn't gotten off to a good start upon first meeting, she treasured her friendship with Jacen's wife now. They had all endured so much together, and only together would they continue to endure this latest crisis that had fallen upon the galaxy and especially their families.

Just by offering strength, she was drawing it too. "We will keep hope alive together...Jacen will survive...I feel him stirring...searching..."

She closed her eyes and reached out to her twin...down the special path that had connected them since they lived in their mother's womb. His essence seemed farther away somehow than it should..maybe because he was still unconscious...but maybe also because his essence had traveled down the path toward death...eternal life in the Force...and at the last moment it was decided that it was not his time to go the way of the Force...now he was trying to make his way back to her...and especially Kyrra...

Jaina opened her eyes and gazed into Kyrra's face. "He lives...is searching for his way back...reach out to him...guide him..."

She knew the agony of not wanting to live if her spouse died...she'd walked that path before...when she'd thought Goshyn was lost to her forever...

"Be strong...we'll be strong together...so that when Jacen awakes he will see us here...waiting for him."


	22. Chapter 22

**__**Passage of Time**__**

Jaina did not know how long she had been asleep. She had spent several moments with Kyrra at Jacen's bedside, pleading with her twin to rejoin them in the land of the living.

Past Jacen, were his and Kyrra's children. Her nieces Syndri and Kenna, and nephews…no!.A new wave of grief shot through her as she realized only Han was there, and not little Kycen. The littlest member of their family. She wrestled with her emotions, determined to be as stoic as Kyrra was trying desperately to be. She spent a moment or two with each one, before continuing on her trek through the medical facility.

Next, she had moved on to the area where Anakin, Tahiri, and Lucca and Xanther were situated, and was relieved to find Tahiri awake and coherent.

No sooner had she learned that her remaining family was still alive, although some were far from being well in the very least, Jaina felt her own weak strength finally give way at last, and she toppled to the ground amid alarming shouts from medical personnel.

Now, as she awakened again, she found herself back on the hospital bed that had been her designated spot since she'd succumbed to the virulent illness that had struck her entire family.

She turned her head slowly to the right and was comforted to see that Goshyn was still in the bed across from her. She did not know if his condition had improved since she had awakened the last time, but just knowing he was still there, was enough for the moment.

Jaina turned her head toward the left, and was pleased to see that Casio's face was no longer heavily flushed with a fever. This told her that her youngest son's condition had improved a little. She touched his mind with the Force and felt a response from him. It was weak, but stable. She could not see Tapion or Alara from where she lay, because of the positioning of Casio's bed blocking her view, so she stretched out with the Force toward her other two children.

Tapion responded immediately to her touch on his mind and she was relieved to feel just how strong his presence was in her own mind. He was truly on the mend and for that she was grateful.

An image of Alara flooded her mind and Jaina could see that the blue around her daughter's mouth had disappeared, and her daugheer's skin coloring was a little closer to normal for a half-Zabrak, half-Human being.

*Mom?*

The voice was barely more than a whisper in her head, but hearing her daughter's  
voice made tears fill her eyes.

*Rest my daughter.*

*Alright.*

Jaina felt sleep drawing her down into slumber and she gave herself over to it.


	23. Chapter 23

****Trying to Be Brave****

Sixteen-year-old Ben Skywalker lay awake on his hospital bed and tried to be brave. He didn't think he was doing a very good job of it though. It was just that very morning when he had felt his father's essence in the Force cease to exist, and he didn't think he could go on another moment with all the pain he was feeling inside.

His mother had died two days before. In her feeble state, she had reached out to him and touched his mind, and with her last bit of energy told him how much she loved him and that one day they would all be together again. And then she was gone.

Now all he had left was Alexxa. His older half-sister lay in a comatose state in the bed across from his, her own body's reaction to the virus being far more severe, than what he had been stricken with.

He was terrified of losing her too...His parents had each been in a coma before awakening...and seemingly starting to get better, before they had taken a drastic turn for the worse, before dying.

Ben didn't want to be alone in the world. Alexxa had to live. Despite their age difference, the two of them had formed a close bond, and he didn't think he would be able to take it if he lost her as well as their parents.


	24. Chapter 24

**__**Waking**__**

It hadn't been the struggle nor the revelation she had expected. One moment she was walking through a never-ending white landscape, the next she felt a tug somewhere inside her chest and opened her eyes to a row of cold lights above her head.

Her breathing hadn't changed dramatically, she didn't sweat or show any other signs of distress. In the blink of an eye, Alexxa found herself back with the living. She couldn't help but feel strangely detached from her physical body after wandering the strange fields  
between life and death.

The room around her looked vaguely familiar. As did the sounds. Soft beeps, slight vibrations coming from somewhere behind her, murmuring voices at a distance.

Alexxa licked her dry lips and blinked very slowly. Somehow her head wouldn't obey her when she wanted to look around, and so her eyes remained fixed on the ceiling.

Where was Ben? she wondered, meanwhile pondering her own situation. She had been here before...before everything went crazy and blew up in their faces...before Leia and Han had died...as well as her father and stepmother.

Alexxa felt a twitch in her face, it contorted for a second before a mask of serenity was brutally forced to cover it. She inhaled sharply, the memories fueling her frozen muscles. Her fingers jerked against the covers. She opened her mouth and a barely audible croak  
was drowned by the sounds of the monitoring machines around her.

*Ben!* it was a weak call but it was better than nothing.

Alexxa hadn't felt her brother die but she couldn't sense him or anyone else right now either. She had probably cut herself off from the Force after her parents had slipped away, after the virus got a hold of her. Her lips moved in utter silence, forming the name of her  
brother, over and over again.


	25. Chapter 25

**__**Alexxa,**__** **** ** _ _ **Please Don't Leave Me Alone...**__**

Ben's head snapped up, and his eyes opened. His weak limbs ached from the fetal position he had drawn himself into. He had heard his name called but as he glanced around the area of the medical center that he was in, he couldn't see a solitary soul.

Who had called his name? He had thought for a moment that it had been his father calling out to him, but his anguished mind pushed the thought aside. His father and mother were dead and they couldn't talk to him, or not in the same way that they used to.

He turned his head in the direction where Alexxa's bed was sister's eyes were still closed, her face flushed as she fought the effects of the virus as it attacked her body. Had Alexxa called his name in the Force?

Ben closed his eyes again and sent himself inward, searching for his connection with his sister and found it...it was strained/blocked as if in her unconscious state Alexxa was doing what came naturally to her...locking her emotions up until she could better deal with them.

*Alexxa, I am here...please wake up. Please don't leave me all alone.*

Ben choked on the sob that sprung into his chest. He couldn't lose her too. He understood that he would never truly be alone as long as any of his cousins and their spouses and children were alive, but he needed Alexxa. He needed his sister to stay with him. He just  
couldn't lose all of his immediate family...it would tear a hole in his heart so wide that he would never be able to repair it.


	26. Chapter 26

**__**Ouch!**__**

Her limbs seemed to be stuck in honey, clinging to her muscles even, making them tired beyond mere exhaustion. With a groan that came from somewhere deep inside her chest, Alexxa pried her eyes open and felt her fingers twitch, uncontrolled but moving nevertheless.

It took her a few minutes to persuade both eyes to work with her and another minute to find that she could actually feel the rest of her body somewhere below her neck.

"Onngh." her voice was raspy from lack of use but once she realized she was really making a sound the cobwebs started to clear from her mind. She wasfeeling drunk although that wasn't possible, was it?

"Alexxa! Can you hear me? Do you understand what I'm saying?" The voice was familiar, even the bulbous face was, that swam in and out of focus, right next to her.

Cilghal was bending over the blond woman and divided her attention between giving orders to the other two medics behind her, the monitors above the bed and her patient.

"Steady now. Easy, it will all be alright. Don't force it. Take your time." the Mon Calamari repeated her words over and over again until Alexxa's muscles stopped contracting. "You are in the med station, Alexxa. You have been unconscious for some time. Your body isn't use to moving, so take it slow."

Alexxa stilled and shook her head slowly. She felt as if a dozen banthas had slept on her, at once. "Ouch." was the first word that left her lips. "Ben?" she asked, barely above a whisper. Most of her memories were still a blur but she needed to know he was okay.


	27. Chapter 27

**__**Don't Leave Me**__**

No sooner had Jaina finished her prayerful request of Jacen, than she heard alarm bells begin to ring and a flurry of activity rush toward her immediate family's section in the med bay, and she felt mind numbing panic flood over her.

"I'm sorry, I've got to go."

She pulled her hand away from Kyrra and struggled to push her weakened  
body back toward where here husband and children lay in their hospital beds.

A quick glance at her three children lying in the same positions they were in earlier, sent her mother's heart flooding momentarily with relief. Then realization sank in that all the commotion with the clanging beeps and whistles, was caused by her beloved husband's deteriorating health.

"Goshyn," She murmured, biting her bottom lip to keep from crying out her fear, as she watched in horrified helplessness as her husband's body jerked spasmodically on the medical table. She listened intently to the medical terminology being shouted back and forth as Master Cighal and her team worked frantically to stop Goshyn's seizures and lower his temperature to a normal state.

*Don't leave me...* she shouted at him through the Force, her breath coming in gasps, as she continued to watch the chaotic scene before her.


	28. Chapter 28

**__**How long**__**  
"Don't…plan on going…anywhere, little brother." Alexxa tried for a smile and thought she was fairly successful when Ben returned a shaky grin. Her head ached a little and she wasn't entirely sure if the rest of her body would move if she'd ordered it but…all in all being conscious was an improvement to the hazy, dark, nightmarish visions that had kept her prisoner for too long.

"How are you feeling…?" Alexxa asked slowly, her voice hoarse from lack of use,  
and looked Ben over, noting the tension in his face and the sickly paleness of  
his skin. She wasn't sure if she only imagined the faint tremor in his hands. She opened her mouth to suggest that a vertical position would be safer for him when the memories returned like a wildfire, burning away everything she'd meant to say.

"Better now that you are awake." Ben told her, even though he was still shaky on  
his legs and felt weak. Compared with being alone in the world, to still being  
in recovery himself, he was doing wonderful.

Alexxa inhaled sharply, braced herself, pressed her eyelids shut. And opened her mind up to remember. It seemed to her as if time stopped. It could have been minutes or hours. Did it matter...?

Ben closed his own eyes against the swarm of emotion that welled up within him  
in reaction to the turbulent flow of feelings that swept over Alexxa as she  
remembered that they'd lost their beloved parents, aunt and uncle. He struggled  
with them and when he felt Alexxa gain control over her own feelings, it was a  
little more easier for him.

When her eyes opened again, they were clear. She let out her breath slowly. "Ben…" she changed her mind and asked another question instead, "…how long have we been here?" Belatedly she realized her fingers were clenched around the thin, white sheet covering her body and she forced them to open and relax.

"Awhile..." Ben replied.

He was still a little lost on just how long they'd been there as well, only remembering the days since he'd woke up and the virus had decided that it couldn't kill him.


	29. Chapter 29

**__**Brief Awakening...**__**

"Anakin." Tahiri Veila-Solo awoke with a start, her heart hammering, teeth chattering, and body shaking in the last vestiges of the nightmare that she'd been trapped in.

Her green eyes popped open and she let out a cry of pain as brilliant white light stabbed into her retinas, bringing tears to her eyes, and forcing her to close them quickly.

Where was she? Where was Anakin? Where was Lucca and Xanther?

She reached out through the Force for her immediate family members.

Tahiri gasped as a sharp pain sliced through her head, but she did not prevent it from keeping her from reaching out to her husband, daughter, and son.

Bristling heat washed over her, covering the essence of her husband, almost burning her with its intensity, and she could not understand what it was or how Anakin could withstand it.

*Ani?* she asked, thinking maybe she was only imagining that she was awake, and instead she was still having a bizarre dream, but something was telling her that she wasn't dreaming. That this was real and it was important for her to stay awake.

She felt a twinge in response from Anakin's essence, but that was all, and it  
frightened her.

*Mama? Mama, where are you?*

Lucca, her young voice full of fear.

*I'm here, honey, I'm here.* Tahiri sent back waves of assurance and love back to her daughter, even though she didn't know exactly where 'here' was.

*I can't see you. Neither can Xanther.* Lucca's voice quavered. *We was sick. They  
maken us swim.*

*Who is?* Tahiri's attention was fully focused on her children now.

Had some enemy kidnapped them all and were holding them hostage?

*Master Cighal.*

Relief flooded through Tahiri. While she did not know what had happened, and why  
she felt so ill, or why Anakin was enclosed in heat as he was, knowing that the  
Master Healer was with her and Anakin's children, meant that something had occurred that had felled her whole family and all of them were in good care.

*Listen to what Master Cilghal tells you.* Tahiri told both her children. *Soon we will all be well again. For now I must sleep.*


	30. Chapter 30

**__**Grief Stricken**__**

Clarica, Queen of the Vampyrka, ruler of all Vampyria, stood just inside the balcony doorway of their topside suite in the Jedi Temple and gazed across the short expansion of feet at her husband, Desmarin, as he stood with his head lifted toward the galaxy above.

He'd been inconsolable ever since they'd received word that his foster parents, the great Jedi Masters, Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker had fallen to the deadly, vicious virus that had swept across the galaxy.

If Luke and Mara's deaths' weren't hard enough for Desmarin, as well as herself, and the rest of their extended family members to deal with, Han and Leia Organa Solo had been lost to them as well.

Desmarin had been especially close to his foster aunt and uncle, and their deaths' had been a stabbing pain in his unbeating heart. To save his life several years earlier, with the assistance of the Vampyrka Elders, she had performed an ancient ritual that had converted her half human/half Vampyrka husband into a full Vampyrka.

Death didn't come often for a Vampyrka.

To make matters even worse for Desmarin, all of his adopted family members had been struck by the virus and most were still clinging to life by a thread.

She didn't know how to comfort Desmarin in his grief, and it made her own grief at the great loss they'd suffered, more palpable.


	31. Chapter 31

**__**We Will Go at Once**__**

Desmarin struggled to get his emotions under control. He could not allow them to  
overwhelm him, to cause such turbulence within him. He had learned well from his  
foster father. Luke would not want him to go down a dark path.

He felt Clarica's presence behind him and knew she was worried for him. She had come to love his foster family as her own, and grieved for them as well, but as  
the leader of all of Vampyria, she could not let others see or feel her grief. Only those closest to her, like her two younger brothers, Absard and Barth, and their two offspring, Corlent and Mara-Leia, and himself, could break through the concrete wall she erected around herself and sense how turbulent her emotions were running beneath its steely surface.

Still struggling to get his chaotic emotions under control, Desmarin turned from the balcony railing to face his wife. His tri-colored eyes of black, cobalt blue, and silver were glistening with unshed tears, and filled with so much pain, Clarica nearly flinched from its intensity. His voice was fierce when he spoke. "I WILL NOT allow myself to be consumed by my grief…I WILL NOT allow it to lure me toward the darkside of the Force. I WILL NOT dishonor their memory."

"I know." Clarica said.

She did know. Desmarin was a man of honor. Time and time again he had proven that he could be depended on to do the right thing, even when it cost him. She knew he would not allow his grief to overwhelm him so much that he would allow himself to be lured down a dark path.

Others might be lured away from the lightside of the Force, but not her husband. His willingness to always do what was right, was one of the first things that she had admired, when they met years earlier. She had also been intrigued to find that he was the mixed blood child of a human woman and a Vampryka male.

Since his conversion into a full Vampyrka male, he had remained steadfast as a Jedi, despite having received newly intensified emotions and warrior instincts.

" My foster siblings Alexxa and Ben, and our cousins and their families are still struggling to so many others of my fellow Jedis as well. I must go to the medical center and see them."

"Of course you do." Clarica replied stepping toward him. "May I accompany you?"

Desmarin reached out and drew her the last few inches into the fold of his embrace. He kissed her forehead softly. "I would like nothing more."

Clarica wrapped her arms around her husband's waist and held him, as he held her, seeking comfort from him, just as she knew he was receiving it from her. "  
"

"We will go at once."


	32. Chapter 32

****Together****

Desmarin and Clarica transitioned from their topside suite to just outside the med center in the Jedi Vamprykas had learned fast how quickly a Royal Guard or Jedi would react defensively to someone suddenly appearing before them out of thin air.

With a flick of his hand, Desmarin opened the double doors to the med center, so he and Clarica could enter. The med-center was abuzz with frenetic activity as medical personnel and droids scurried to and fro caring for their various patients. A cacophony of 'whooshes', 'beeps', 'blips', 'whistles', 'bells', 'whirs', and several other sounds filled their ears as they stepped inside and the doors closed behind them.

"Where would they put our family members?" Clarica asked Desmarin softly.

"I assume they will be kept closely together in one section of the med-center." Desmarin replied, glancing around them, seeking to find someone he knew who would be able to assist them in finding out where the assorted members of his foster family who were still among the living.

He was about to go up to the large stationary counter tucked away in the left hand corner of this main room in the med-center. It appeared to be the control station of the whole med center. Several medical personnel stood behind it reading charts, watching holograms, adding information to holographic data pads, etc.

"Someone over there should be able to tell us." Desmarin pointed out to his wife.

They turned and started to head toward it, when a group of medical personnel came out of a closed off corridor toward them. Among them was Master Cilghal.

"Master Cilghal." Desmarin called out, veering that way.

Master Cilghal bulbous eyes glanced over at him and nodded. She gave a few last instructions to the young man beside her, before leaving the group and heading toward the two Vamprykas.

"King Desmarin…Queen Clarica. It is good to see you both." Master Cilghal greeted the two Vamprykas."I am pleased to see that you have not been ill."

"Master Cilghal we are pleased that you are in good health as well." Desmarin bowed to the Mon Calamari Jedi Healer.

"Vamprykas cannot contract disease of any kind." Clarica informed Master Cilghal.

"Really?" Clarica's words intrigued the Jedi Healer. "How is that?"

"We are evolved beings whose bodies do not allow foreign spores to secret themselves within us. Therefore, we cannot succumb to illnesses like many other species can." Clarica explained.

"Interesting. I would ask if I might run tests on you or Desmarin or another of your people to see how your physiology differs from those other species who are similar to your own?" Master Cighal asked.

"I am agreeable with that." Clarica said. "First though, we are most anxious for word of our human kin."

"Of course, "Master Cilgal blinked. "Several of your family members have made vast improvements, while others are still in more dangerous status. I regret to inform you that young Kycen succumb to the virus."

Kycen with the cherubic features and sweet soul was now with the Force. Pain arced through Desmarin, and he felt Clarica take his hand.

"May we see our other family members?" Desmarin asked after a moment.

"Certainly. Follow me." Master Cilghal led the two Vampyrkas over to the section of the med center where the Maul-Solo-Skywalker clan were located.

"I will leave you to your visits. If you need me for any reason, just send someone to find me." Master Cilghal said before leaving them alone.

"We can go in when you are ready." Clarica said softly to Desmarin.

"I am ready."


	33. Chapter 33

****Visitation****

Jaina turned away from Goshyn's bed as she heard the door to their area open behind her. Her eyes lit up when she spotted Desmarin and Clarica.

"Des!" She started to rise from her chair to greet her adopted cousin and his wife.

"No. You stay seated!" Desmarin exclaimed, moving quickly to her side. "You are still recuperating from the illness yourself."

Jaina smiled at him. "I am well on the mend Cousin. Master Cilghal has assured me that even though I am still weak, I am truly on the road to being well."

"We are pleased to hear this Jaina." Clarica joined her husband at Jaina's side.

Her tri-colored blue eyes moved from Jaina's pale face onto Goshyn's still form. " How is Goahyn?"

Jaina's smiled faded. "Crossed over into the last phase of the virus. His levels are stable now, close to their normal range. Yet he remains unconscious. He responds to very little through the Force from either myself or Master Cilghal. I get the sense that he is trapped somehow, and after my last attempt to connect with him, I sensed that Jacen was trying to reach out to him or is with him and trapped as well."

"Perhaps I may be of assistance to them?" Desmarin mused.

"How?" Jaina queried.

Desmarin locked gazes with his wife. As partners they were equals, but Clarica was the Queen of all Vamprykas. Her word was law and they didn't readily share their unique gifts with anyone outside of their species.

Goshyn and Jacen weren't just anyone though. They were family. They were ill and they needed his help. He was certain he could help them. He only needed Clarica to give her consent for him to help them.

"Do what is necessary to aide them." Clarica told her husband.

Desmarin moved to the head of Goshyn's bed and gently placed his hands on either side of his cousin's head. Clarica moved to place her hand upon her husband's shoulder, ready to allow him to draw strength from her if he needed to.

'What are you going to do?" Jaina asked.

"I will shed my outer self and travel into Goshyn's mind through the connection between my hands and his head. Once there I will use the Force to aide me in discovering what it is keeping Goshyn locked inside himself. If Jacen is there, I will be able to talk to him as well, and help him too."

"Is this dangerous to you?" Jaina asked.

"No. As long as Clarica keeps connected to me both mentally and psychically, I will remain tethered to her and she will guide me back when I am finished helping Goshyn and Jacen."

"Desmarin will be weakened when he comes back, because what he is going to do is going to take a lot of his strength. Besides being his tether, I will also give Desmarin strength if he needs it." Clarica added.

"What do need me to do?" Jaina asked.

"There's nothing you can do but keep anyone from disturbing me while I am connected to Goshyn." Desmarin told her.

"I can do that." Jaina promised.

She was intrigued by this gift of Desmarin's, and was eager to watch it take place.


	34. Chapter 34

****Mind Walking****

Desmarin closed his eyes and shed his body, traveling through the connection before his body and Goshyn's. he was immediately aware of complete and total darkness surrounding him. It gave him pause, made him reach out in the Force for Goshyn.

*Goshyn where are you?*

*Des?*

Goshyn's voice was hesitant, incredulous. *How are you here? I can feel you in my mind in a way I've never been able to through the Force.*

* My essence is actually inside your mind, not just my voice. I've come to aide in freeing yourself from whatever it is that is keeping you trapped in unconsciousness.* Desmarin told him.

*How?*

Goshyn was intrigued by what Desmarin had told him. He felt himself reaching out toward Desmarin, feeling his cousin by marriage reaching out to him too. Pain arced through him as he felt the tendrils of the invisible vines restraining him tighten their hold on his body, and he finally realized what they were. It was the virus trying to strengthen its hold on him so he would succumb to it. Now that he knew what it was that was keeping him trapped, unable to move or awaken, Goshyn prepared his weakened body to do battle. He was not going to leave Jaina without a husband, and their triplets without a father.

* I am ready to fight Desmarin!* Goshyn said, then sent out another message, *Jacen! You have to fight ! You cannot let the virus win!*

*I won't let it win!* Jacen's voice seemed stronger somehow.

*Take some of my strength to help you fight* Desmarin said to Goshyn and Jacen, sending them energy through the Force.

Desmarin wavered as he sent energy coursing through is essence from Clarica, feeling it bolstering his own body, as he offered his own to Goshyn and Jacen who he could feel were valiantly fighting to free themselves from the malignant tendrils of the virus trapping them, holding them in place, wanting them to succumb to its power over their bodies.

*You are not going to win!* Goshyn shouted, giving one final violent effort to break the tendrils binding him, and to his great relief and delight, he felt them break away at last, freeing him at last.

A moment later he heard Jacen's victorious cry in his head and new that his brother-in-law had been victorious as well.

*Follow me Goshyn and Jacen!* Desmarin ordered and withdrew his essence from Goshyn's mind, feeling confident that both Goshyn and Jacen would awaken momentarily.


	35. Chapter 35

****Awake at Last****

Desmarin returned to his own body, his tri-colored eyes slowly opening, and gazing downward into time to see Goshyn open his eyes.

"Goshyn?" Jaina whispered, ope surging through her as she watched her husband's eyes flutter open.

Goshyn slowly blinked, then glanced upward. He could feel hands upon his head and knew it was Desmarin before he even glanced up.

"Thank you." His voice was hoarse from disuse.

"You are welcome." Desmarin told him.

At the sound of Jaina's whispering his name, he turned his head slowly, feeling overwhelming weariness throughout his body. His red-gold eyes landed on the beautiful face of his wife and he smiled.

"Jaina."

His eyes blinked as he glanced around him, taking in the stark white walls, the medical apparatus surrounding him, hearing a mix of beeps and swooshes and whirs, along with the distant sound of many voices.

"Med-center."

"Yes." Jaina told him. "You've been really ill."

Goshyn closed his eyes as he tried to remember what had happened. A virus. He knew that was had kept him trapped in unconsciousness. It was a particularly virulent and deadly virus had swept through the galaxy, felling people of every species. He remembered Alara turning toward him with an odd expression on her beautiful young face. He had barely had time to ask her what was wrong, before she collapsed in his arms.

His eyes sprang open in alarm. "Alara? Is she alive? How are our boys?" Goshyn's hoarse voice now held a combined thread of fear and anxiety in them.

"Tapion is recovering." Jaina told him. "Casio and Alara are still very ill, but they are growing stronger with each passing moment."

"They are strong. They will recover." Goshyn stated firmly, willing it to be so.

"Yes. They will." Jaina agreed, remembering her vision of the future.

Goshyn studied his wife. Though she smiled at him, there was an underlying sadness in her eyes. He felt he should know the reason behind the sadness, but was unable to remember why.

He cleared his throat. "Jacen He was with me. He should be awake now."

Jaina reached out in the Force to her twin at her husband's words and felt relation flood through her as he responded. It was weak, but it was the first real response that she had gotten from her brother since before the virus had struck the galaxy. She sent him love and closed the connection between them.

"He is awake. He is weak, but he is finally awake and that is a good thing." Jaina told her husband.

"How is everyone else?" Goshyn asked.

"Still battling the virus." Jaina said softly.

She did not speak of her beloved parents, uncle and aunt, or young Kycen. There would be time enough to fill Goshyn about the great loss their family had suffered, when he was much stronger.

"We will take our leave now." Clarica said. "Desmarin and I wish to see the rest of our family members before we have to retire for the day."

"Thank you for coming to see us." Jaina told her.

"If there is anything else we can do to help, don't hesitate to call for us." Desmarin told her.

"I won't."Jaina assured him.


	36. Chapter 36

**Healing the Triplets**

Desmarin and Clarica left Jaina talking quietly with Goshyn to stand by Alara Solo-Maul's bed. Desmarin gazed down into Alara's ashen face and frowned. He could not remember a time before this that she was ever so still. Ever since she and her brothers were born, she had always been in motion. She was bubbly and vivacious, always talking and doing things.

Desmarin placed a hand to Alara's cold forehead and shed his body before Clarica could stop him. She grasped his other hand and held it tightly. The need to help his young adopted cousin was so strong, he ignored his weary body.

Unlike the darkness that had surrounded him when he entered Goshyn's mind, he found himself surrounded by a bright light. He sensed only serenity at first, before his essence connected with Alara's.

She was standing still, gazing around in wonder and confusion. Her red-gold eyes widened in surprise when she saw Desmarin.

"Des? What's going on? Where are we?" Alara asked him.

"We are in your mind Alara. Only my essences is here communicating with you, not my body."

"Why are we surrounded by this blinding light?"

"I believe you are being given a choice." Desmarin told her.

"What's the choice?"

"To cross over into the Force or stay with your family."

"I want to stay with my family." Alara said without hesitation.

"Take my hand." Desmarin held out his hand to her.

Alara slipped her hand into his and Desmarin gestured for her to close her eyes. He closed his own and returned to his body. He drew strength from wife to keep on his feet as his eyes locked on Alara's face.

Alara's eyes flew open and she smiled at Demarin. A gasp to her left drew her attention to her older brother's face. Tears stood in Tapion's eyes as he locked them with his sister's. Waves of emotion flooded through Alara, letting her know how terribly scared he'd been about losing her and Casio.

*Tap, I'm here.* she sent love flooding back at him through the Force. *Casio hasn't left us yet.*

*I feel him slipping.*

*We won't let him!*

Alara reached over and intertwined her fingers with his. Together they sent healing warmth into their younger brother.

Wearily, Desmarin moved around Tapion's bed to Casio's. He started to put his hand on his ill cousin's forehead, but Clarica stayed his hand.

"You are too weak, my husband. I shall aid young Casio."

Desmarin nodded, linking his hand with Clarica's. He felt it when his wife's essence left her body and entered Casio's. Intense heat surrounded her. Darkness too. She blinked and found Casio huddled in a corner of the heated darkness, unable to move.

"Casio?"

Casio blinked blurry eyes at her. "Clarica?"

"Yes?"

"Where are we?"

"This is your mind. I am only with you in essence. I have come to help you break free of the virus weakening you." She held out her hand to him.

Casio hesitated a moment before slipping his fevered hand into her cool one.

"Close your eyes." Clarica instructed him softly.

Casio did as she asked.

Clarica closed her eyes as well. Holding his essence close, she returned to her body. Desmarin steadied her weary body as both gazed down into Casio's fevered face.

Alara and Tapion held their collective breath. They could feel Casio stirring in a way he hadn't a few moment before.

*Casio?*

Alara held hjer breath as Tapion called out to their younger brother.

*Tap?* Casio's voice was weak. *Alara, where is she?*

Tears flooded Alara's eyes at hearing Casio's voice. *I am here Cas.*

*We all are.*

Their father's words were comforting to all three of the younger Solo-Mauls.

Jaina hurried from Goshyn's side to her children's. She paused momentarily to kiss Alara, before moving over to Casio's.

"Mom." Casio's voice was weak from misuse, but his smile was bright.

Jaina leaned over and hugged him, her eyes swimming with unshed tears that she blinked rapidly back. She straightened and turned to look at Desmarin and Clarica.

"I don't know how to repay you." She told them.

"We're family Jaina. You owe us nothing. I am glad we were able to help. "Desmarin told her.

"We must go on now." Clarica said. "We wish to see the rest of the family before we have to retire for the day."

"Thank you for everything." Jaina said sincerely.

"You are welcome."


	37. Chapter 37

**Soft Conversation**

"You keep watching me little brother and I'm going to start thinking there's something really wrong with me." Alexxa said softly.

Ben flushed. "Sorry. I didn't realize I was staring. "

Alexxa slowly turned her aching head and looked at her brother. He looked like hell. He was so pale and there were dark circles under his eyes. A fine sheen of sweat melded his unruly sandy brown hair so like their dad's, to his forehead. Their dad. Mara. Aunt Leia and Uncle Han.

Grief threatened to overwhelm her, and she fought to keep it at bay. A sob escaped her lips and she heard Ben cry out in alarm.

"Alexxa!"

"I'm fine." She choked out as she worked to get her emotions under control.

"Liar." Ben was suddenly standing beside her bed, his hand taking hers and gripping it tightly. "I miss them too."

Alexxa blinked back the tears that threatened to break free and nodded. She squeezed his hand tightly, feeling that he needed the physical contact as much as she did.

"Who is left?" She asked him finally.

"I'm not sure." Ben replied. "I've only been awake for a short time. I feel…Jaina, definitely…Jacen and Anakin are cloudy."

Alexxa closed her eyes and reached out through the Force, touching only briefly on their cousins essences, before pain swept over her head. She broke her connection hastily and opened her eyes. "I felt…them too."

Before Ben could answer, both 'felt' someone approaching their cubicle only a moment before Desmarin and Clarica swept inside.

"Des!" Ben exclaimed, happy to see his older adopted brother. "Clarica!"

Desmarin hugged Ben and took Alexxa's hand. "I am so happy to see you both awake."

"You weren't affected?" Alexxa asked.

"No. We Vampryka seemed to be immune to the virus." Clarica revealed, smiling at them.

"How are our cousins?" Ben asked.

"Jaina, Goshyn, their triplets, Jacen, Kyrra, and all of their children, except young Kycen have survived and are on the mend." Desmarin told them. "We plan to check in on Tahiri, Anakin, and their offspring once we're done visiting with you."

"Kycen?" Ben sucked in his breath. "He was only a baby."

Alexxa gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Her heart ached for Jacen and Kyrra. "He is one with the Force now…Dad and Mara, Uncle Han and Aunt Leia, will look after him."

Ben nodded, unable to speak.

"We must go now if we are to be any assistance to Anakin and Tahiri." Clarica reminded her husband.

Desmarin nodded. "We will come again tomorrow night."

The two Vampyrkas made their departure leaving the Skywalker siblings alone.


	38. Chapter 38

Tahiri's green eyes snapped open when she sensed other presences in the area where her immediate family was located, in the Med-Center. She was surprised to see Desmarin and Clarica moving to stand between her bed and Anakin''.

She licked her dry lips. "Des. Clarica."

"It is good to see you are awake." Desmarin smiled at her. "We were told by Master Cilghal that both your children have recovered from the virus and are being cared for while you and Anakin heal."

" I feel them." Tahiri said. "Anakin…he's still so sick."

"We've come to help him come back to you." Clarica told her.

Puzzlement filled her. What could they do that Master Cighal and the Med-Techs couldn't.

"I don't understand." She told them.

"My essence will enter Anakin's brain and lead him out of the murky darkness surrounding him, which is how the virus effects the mind." Desmarin revealed. "We have already helped Jacen and Goshyn, Alara and Casio."

"Will it hurt Ani?" Tahiri asked.

"Not more than he's already experiencing." Clarica told her. "Desmarin must do this quickly as he and I have to return to our home before the night ends and morning rises."

Tahiri nodded in understanding, and kept her weary gaze on Desmarin, as he moved to lean over Anakin. Clarica moved so that she was firmly holding onto her husband as he shed his body and entered Anakin's mind.

She expected to see Anakin jerk or squirm when Deamarin's essence entered his body, but he remained still. So, so still, and quiet.

Time passed in slow moments that were agonizing to her because try as she might, she couldn't touch one either Anakin's or Desmarin's minds in an effort to view what Deamarin was doing.

Desmarin's body swayed suddenly, and he tilted, pressing his hand on Anakin's bed to keep his balance as Clarica gripped him tightly, using her body to stabilize him.

"What's wrong? Are you okay? Did it work?" Tahiri peppered the swaying Vampryka with questions.

"Give him a moment." A new voice filled the room, this one hoarse from

Lack of use, and a hint of amusement.

Tahiri's eyes fled from Desmarin and settled on her husband's face. His dark eyes were open and he was smiling at her. Tears of relief flooded her eyes and fell unchecked as she gazed at him.

Soothing comfort and love flooded into her through the Force from Anakin, and she knew that everything was going to be okay now that he was awake at last.

"We must go." Clarica told them, gripping Desmarin tightly, and before either Jedi could respond, the two Vamprykas disappeared from the Med-Center.


	39. Chapter 39

**May The Force Be With Us All**

Night had fallen over Coruscant. In a vast clearing outside of the new Jedi Temple, Jedis in earth-toned robes gathered around a dozen or so funeral pyres in preparation for the memorial ceremony to say goodbye to all the Jedis who'd succumbed to the virus.

Two large basins of fire were the only light provided for the gathered crowd. Jedi Master Kam Solusar stepped forward with his wife and fellow Jedi Master, Tionne.

"We gather here tonight to bid goodbye to Jedi Masters Luke and Mara Skywalker, to former Chief of State Leia Organa-Solo and General Han Solo, and many other Jedis who perished from the virulent virus that swept through the galaxy, along with thousands of other beings from various species.

Master Luke changed the lives of everyone gathered here, and elsewhere. Together with Master Mara, hr inspired us all to be a force of good in the galaxy. Princess Leia Organa-Solo was a driving force in the galaxy through her activism in the Rebel Alliance and later as Chief of State. General Han Solo used his skills as a pilot and former smuggler to fight for what was right.

"In the words of Master Yoda, I tell you, 'Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not.' "

He stepped back to where Tionne stood, as Jaina, Jacen,and Anakin stepped forward and lit torches at one of the basins, before stepping over to the pyre upon which their parents lay. They took up a three-tiered position around Leia and Han and as one, tipped the flames of their torches to the stacked wood and watched as it caught fire.

Alexxa slipped her hand into Ben's and walked over to the basin closest to the pyre where Luke and Mara lay. They lit their torches and moved to the opposite ends of the pyre and touched their flames to the wood.

Grieving Jedis in groups of two or three moved through the meadow, lighting the pyres of family members and friends.

Jacen walked over to the claim Kyrra's shaky hand as he led her over to where Kycen's tiny body lay upon a little pyre. Stoically they gazed down at their youngest child for a few moments before Jacen lit the pyre. Kyrra turned her face into his shoulder unwilling to watch the fire burn, even knowing that their son's was no longer there, but with the Force.

The entire Skywalker-Solo-Maul clan gathered close together, finding solace in each other's presences, as they bid their loved ones, goodbye with a collective phrase.

"May the Force Be With You Always."

The End


End file.
